Austin jurist to get nod for job

Updated 10:26 pm, Monday, June 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — White House officials notified congressional offices Monday that President Barack Obama would nominate four people to serve as U.S. attorneys in Texas, filling positions that have been vacant since he took office more than two years ago.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lee Pitman of Austin is expected to be picked to serve as U.S. attorney in the Western District, which includes San Antonio, Del Rio and El Paso, Texas lawmakers confirmed.

Kenneth Magidson, an assistant U.S. attorney, is being tapped for the top prosecutor's post in the Southern District, which includes Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Laredo.

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“These nominees have proven to be tenacious and diligent in their pursuit of justice and I am honored to nominate them to serve their fellow Americans as U.S. attorneys,” Obama said in a release sent to the Justice Department and Texas senators in advance of the expected nominations.

Some House lawmakers were also notified by White House aides in advance of the announcement.

Obama is expected to nominate Sarah Saldaña to serve as U.S. attorney in the Dallas-based Northern District, as well as interim U.S. Attorney John Bales in Lufkin for the Eastern District post in Lufkin.

A rift between the senators and Democrats in the U.S. House emerged for judicial selection early in the president's term. Democrats had sought other candidates for appointment in some of the state's judicial districts.

Although the White House assured the state's Democrats that they would be consulted on judicial selections, the executive branch also has worked with the GOP senators, who have the constitutional authority to block nominations.

“The administration has disregarded its previous agreement and our hope for more change in the Texas justice system after decades of total Republican domination,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.

Pitman was not one of several candidates that were put forward in the Western District by lawmakers from San Antonio or Austin.

One of those candidates, San Antonio lawyer Mike McCrum, withdrew his name from consideration last year after the process dragged on without an official White House nomination.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, said White House delays in the nomination process were “totally and completely unnecessary.”

Texas is one of only three states, along with Utah and Mississippi, awaiting nomination and confirmation of U.S. attorneys.

Of the 93 U.S. attorney seats in the country, only 12 remain unfilled by presidential nomination, according to Main Justice, a group that tracks the Justice Department.

Administration officials and the Texas senators have downplayed the partisan rift among Texas lawmakers in the judicial selection process.

Cornyn said the senators, who created a panel to pre-screen judicial nominees to be recommended for appointment, have worked with and taken into account the concerns of the House Democrats.

In addition to McCrum in San Antonio, Democrats also recommended U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan in Dallas.